Matt Brown
Matt Brown is a Liberal Democrat MP in the Model House of Commons, who formerly served as Shadow Leader of the House of Commons from 1st May 2019 and Leader of the Liberal Democrats since 13th March 2019 until 15th January 2020. He is MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale. Leader of the Liberal Democrats Matt Brown ran unopposed for the leadership of the Liberal Democrats in MHoC, the second largest party with 16 MPs behind the 32 MPs of the Conservative Party. Shadow Leader of the House Designation of the Liberal Democrats as the Official Opposition From the 1st session of the Model House of Commons on 13th March, the Labour Party were designated as the Official Opposition. However, when Leon Peel resigned as Leader of the Labour Party and Shadow Leader of the House, Calum Strang was identified as his successor. Strang struggled to form a shadow cabinet, leading Matt Brown to request that the Liberal Democrats be designated as the Official Opposition. The Speaker initially rejected this request, however on 24th April Strang could not find a Labour MP to shadow the Deputy Leader of the House or Foreign Minister who led the Brexit debate, forcing the Labour Party to drop its amendment to the Prime Minister's Withdrawal Agreement. At the same time, the Liberal Democrat's managed to pass their People's Vote amendment to the Withdrawal Agreement and the Lib Dem Whip, Maria Wilson, also successfully proposed an amendment on environmental protections post-Brexit. At the conclusion of the session on 24th April, Matt Brown re-submitted a request for the Liberal Democrats to be designated as the Official Opposition and the Speaker accepted. This decision was formally announced the following week on 1st May when Matt Brown became Shadow Leader of the House and formed a Shadow Cabinet. 'Shadow Cabinet' 'Vote of No Confidence in the Government' The former Conservative MP and Tory Chief Whip, Henry Lloyd, had been encouraging Brown to bring down the government since his resignation on 22nd May. Initially, Brown rejected Lloyds propositions and had assured the Government of Lib Dem support in March when Labour and Independent MPs threatened to challenge the Conservative Government. However, Matt Brown finally announced that the Official Opposition would be tabling a motion of No Confidence in the Government during a debate on military intervention in Sudan on 19th June after Conservative ministers suggested a British military occupation of Sudan would be preferable to democracy and free elections. Brown withdraw the motion the following week after the Leader of the House announced he would not be seeking re-election, due to mass cabinet resignations. Resignation On the 15 January 2020 Matthew Brown retired as Leader of the Liberal Democrats and Shadow Leader of the House. He handed over to Jemima Tarleton. Responding to Brown's resignation speech, the Leader of the House said: "He has led the House to adopting Electoral Reform and expanded Childcare, whilst putting aside party politics to prioritise the national interest and join with the Government in highlighting Men’s Mental Health issues and in tackling the Climate Emergency. And most recently, as Leader of the Liberal Democrat’s in the Mock election he outperformed the party’s national share of the vote by almost double. "I may have disagreed with him on a range of issues and we’ve sparred every week across this dispatch box, but there is no doubt that he has served his party, the opposition and this House with distinction..."